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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22363642">Meet me in the woods</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyHuron97/pseuds/LadyHuron97'>LadyHuron97</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Walking Dead (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-01-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-01-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 10:41:35</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,747</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22363642</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyHuron97/pseuds/LadyHuron97</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>She's used to being alone, ever since the world ended that was how things had been. She didn't think she wanted that to change until she came across a group of strangers in the woods. </p><p>Daryl Dixon was never one to leave a debt unpayed.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Daryl Dixon &amp; You, Daryl Dixon/Reader</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>55</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Meet me in the woods</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>She had been walking through the woods for what seemed like months on end now. She hadn’t seen actual, living people for even longer than that, and she was ok with that for the most part. You had to fight the dead to live, but the living could pose an even greater threat if they were the bad kind, so since the end of the world she had kept mostly to herself. It had worked well so far, she had managed to stay mostly safe, and she didn’t have to scavenge for food or medicine much that way since she only had to do it for herself.</p><p>So when she heard someone no so distantly yell that ‘walkers’ were approaching, she adjusted her backpack and started to fasten her walk, intent on putting as much distance as possible between her and what she considered to be a double threat. She was not about to put her life in danger for strangers.</p><p>Her resolve crumbled immediately when she heard a baby crying from the same direction of the first warning call.</p><p>“Fuck dammit” she muttered as she turned around, taking her hunting knife out from its sheath and started running towards the noise. As she approached the tree-line she could see there was a large group of people fighting an even larger group of the biters on top of a bridge. <em>They’re never gonna be able to fight them all</em>, she thought as she searched for the baby she had heard. She saw that there was a teenage boy further along the bridge with a baby that could not have been older than a year. Her heart clenched at that and she grabbed her knife tighter in her hand as she assessed the rest of the situation. She could tell that these people were used to fighting, against all odds they were already about to end the herd of biters that had come for them.</p><p>She was about to turn around and leave them to it, thinking that they had the situation covered when she saw that just along the edge of the bridge, a man was struggling to kill a walker when another one started making its way to him from behind. She ran towards it and just as the walker grabbed the man’s arm and was about to bite into it, she grabbed the walker’s head, pulling it down and with a swift movement, plunging her knife deep into its skull, effectively ending its efforts for feeding itself.</p><p>She took on a defensive stance then, assessing any possible threats. The man was looking at her through the locks of hair that covered his face. She nodded at him and he nodded back, his piercing blue eyes like burning flames on her face.</p><p>The last of the walkers was down then and se could see that all of their attention was on her. She hadn’t felt so exposed and vulnerable in quite a while, and she could not say that she appreciated as she shifted from one foot to the other uncomfortably.</p><p>“Where did you come from?” a man with a bushy beard and an intimidating stand asked, half of his body positioning itself protectively in front of the rest of the group. She squared her shoulders solemnly and held her head high as she answered, deciding that honesty was her best option.</p><p>“I was walking through the woods when I heard you call out for walkers, I wasn’t gonna intervene until I heard the baby cry” she said as she saw the boy walking slowly towards them. Beard guy turned his head to look at the both of them, he signaled to not approach them anymore and the boy stopped as he could only now see her.</p><p>“Are you alone?” the question came from a stern looking woman with a sword on her hand.</p><p>“I’d rather not answer that question, I’ll be out of your way now” she said.</p><p>“Thank you for helping our friend” Beard guy said, appearing to relax his stance a little, putting his hands on his hips. She looked at the man again, he was looking at her again and she felt self-conscious under his intense gaze.</p><p>She simply nodded and prepared to continue making her way. “Good luck out there” she said as she turned to walk away from them.</p><p>“You’re welcome to join us, if you want” it was a young voice and she figured it was the teenager speaking now, she turned her head and glanced at him, smiling slightly.</p><p>“I’m better on my own, thanks” she started walking, starting to put distance between her and the group and deciding she’ have to make camp soon, it was about to get dark.</p><p>She didn’t sleep much, always ready to bolt at the slightest sound. She supposed the lack of proper sleep was going to bite her in the ass sooner or later, but that was a risk to take when you traveled alone those days.</p><p>She found a clearing and decided it was a good place as any to make camp, she’d have a clear line of sight on all sides. Putting her stuff down on the floor and proceeding to make a small fire. The sun started setting a few minutes after that as she hang strings with cans to warn her of anyone who might approach. Sitting back down on the floor near her small fire, keeping it almost to embers so as not to call the attention of any potential threats she lay down on the floor, using her backpack as a pillow and closing her eyes.</p><p>She had been lightly dozing in and out of sleep for a while and was about to fall asleep when something called her attention. The only warning she had of someone close by was the soft rustling of leaves, almost imperceptible except to someone who was on high alert all the time.</p><p>She immediately grabbed her knife and quickly stood up, her fire was pretty much out by now but the full moon provided her with some light. She forced her eyes to adjust and surveyed her surroundings when a shadow walked closer to her from directly in front. When the light of the moon hit the figure, she saw that it was the guy from the group, the one she had saved. Her heart was in her throat now. He was holding something with his left hand and had a crossbow on the other and she swallowed thickly as she thought he could easily overpower her if he wanted to. What if the others were also here and they wanted to hurt her somehow? <em>They have a baby with them, they surely can’t be that bad</em>. She thought, trying to calm herself down and not show how nervous she was.</p><p>“What do you want?” she asked, tightening her grip around her knife, “how did you find me?”</p><p>“Ya weren’t exactly hiding your tracks, t’was easy to follow ya” he said as he lowered the crossbow, “I ain’t wanna hurt ya, just wanna give ya this” he extended his left hand and she could see now that he was holding a bunch of dead squirrels hanging by a thread, “it ain’t much but I figure you hadn’t eaten much lately anyway”</p><p>“You didn’t have to” she said, he was right though, she hadn’t had much luck on the hunting department lately and most places she scavenged in were pretty much empty by now.</p><p>“Ya didn’t have to save my life either, take it” he said, insisting. She looked at him in the eyes and could see that he was the kind of man who didn’t like owing anything to anyone. She could respect that. She holstered her knife and grabbed the squirrels.</p><p>“You should save them for your group, they probably need ‘em more than me” she said, taking two from the bundle of squirrels and giving the rest to the man, thinking back on the baby. He shook his head but she walked towards him, not about to take food away from a group of people who had a baby with them. She could see him shifting protectively and stopped a few feet away from him. “At least let me cook you some too”</p><p>He seemed to consider her and he nodded before walking behind her to sit in front of where her fire had been. She started making a new one as he skinned two of the squirrels as easy as if they were bananas. She had to admit she was impressed by him.</p><p>They ate in silence and after she finished her squirrel, she leaned down, looking up at the starry sky.</p><p>“That’s pretty much the only nice part in all of this” she said softly, he looked at her and she returned his gaze with a slight smile, “the stars”</p><p>He looked up and as he did so she could see more of his face. She had to admit that he was handsome.</p><p>“Ya should come with us” he said then, breaking the silence, “’s safer in groups”</p><p>She didn’t answer, avoiding his gaze and pointedly looking up at the sky. She could feel him getting up again and starting to walk away. It was stupid, she was sure, but she didn’t want him to leave. She heard him walk away then and she released a breath she didn’t know she had been holding as she heard his steps going further and further away from her.</p><p>“Shit” she said. As ridiculous as it seemed, she had felt alive for the first time in a long time today, she had forgotten how that felt. She knew it was stupid though, depending on people could only bring her trouble. She realized then that she felt completely alone, she had been sure that was for the best, but for some reason she didn’t want to feel like that anymore. She didn’t want to feel dead anymore. Against her better judgement, she stood up and grabbed her stuff and started walking towards the man. Once she reached him, he looked at her and silently nodded, she returned the gesture and they continued to make their way back to where his group was.</p><p>“I’m Y/N, by the way” she said, breaking the silence as they got closer.</p><p>“Daryl” he answered simply.</p><p>She looked at him and smiled slightly, “Well, Daryl, it was a pleasure to save your life today”.</p>
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